MassChallenge Israel announces 2018 class

55 startups have been selected to join the international startup accelerator in Jerusalem, of which 33% come from outside of Israel.

MassChallenge, a global network of zero-equity startup accelerators, has announced that 55 of the world’s highest impact, highest potential early-stage startups will join its 2018 program in Israel. The selected startups work across a range of industries - including medtech, future mobility, and visual technology, and 33% of the participants come from countries outside of Israel including India, US, Poland, and Kenya.

MassChallenge Israel also announced that Yonit Golub Serkin has been named managing director, and that Israel Ganot will serve as executive director. Serkin has served as Director of Partnerships of MassChallenge Israel since 2016. Prior to joining MassChallenge Israel, Serkin was on the founding teams of both Amelia Investments and Moonscape Ventures. Previously, she served as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Economic Development under New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

“Jerusalem has become a center for global innovation, and there is no better illustration of this than the nearly 160 teams from outside of Israel that applied to accelerate with MassChallenge Israel,” said Serkin. “With our third cohort, we are thrilled to connect the world’s startups to the Israel innovation ecosystem and to connect Israeli innovators to our global network.”

More than 520 startups from 32 countries applied to join MassChallenge Israel’s 2018 class. Startups were evaluated on their ability to demonstrate impact and potential - for ideas ranging from scientific breakthroughs to industry disruptions - by an expert judging panel that included more than 170 of the world's top executives, entrepreneurs, and investors.

The 55 startups will participate in MassChallenge’s nearly four-month accelerator program, where they will receive world-class mentoring from industry experts, tailored programming, free co-working space, and unrivalled access to corporate partners. The accelerator will run from late April through early August 2018 and culminates with the MassChallenge Israel Awards, where the accelerator’s top startups will be invited to the MassChallenge Israel Trek, an all -expenses paid curated roadshow to the East Coast of the US. Select startups will share a portion of an equity-free cash prize of 500K ILS.

As part of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s visit to India in January 2018, MassChallenge launched a partnership with the Deshpande Foundation and Nasscom to grant a $5,000 scholarship to up to 10 Indian teams accepted into the MassChallenge Israel accelerator.